Former Sun editor announced as UK government's new communications chief
Having worked as a tabloid journalist, editor and news executive since the 1990s, Dinsmore was appointed to the civil service role from a shortlist of two – beating PR man Tim Allan, formerly an adviser to Tony Blair.
He will join the civil service as a permanent secretary for communications in the Cabinet Office in November having served as chief operating officer of News UK, which is run by Murdoch ally Rebekah Brooks.
His appointment has been met with surprise and some consternation within the civil service and some Labour figures, given the controversies that have dogged News UK over the years, from the phone hacking scandal to its Hillsborough coverage that led to an apology to fans.
Although Dinsmore was not editor of the Sun at the time of either episode, he has been senior at News UK for the last decade while settlements for hacking have been reached. Hacked Off, the campaign group, described his appointment as being a 'dangerous misjudgment and insult to the public'.
Three Liverpool MPs – Ian Byrne, Kim Johnson, and Paula Barker – sent a letter to Starmer on Wednesday expressing their concern about Dinsmore's appointment.
Some senior Labour women were also uncomfortable with his history of having defended publishing pictures of topless women on page 3 to sell newspapers, earning him an award for 'sexist of the year' in a poll run by the End Violence Against Women campaign in 2014, before he finally oversaw the abolition of the practice at the end of his tenure. As Sun editor, he was also convicted of publishing a pixellated picture of a victim of sexual abuse that still accidentally allowed her to be identified, carrying a £1,000 fine.
A staunch defender of the UK's news media, Dinsmore told the Society of Editors in 2018 that he was 'sick of our industry being done down' and once described the Leveson inquiry as having left 'banana republic style levels of secrecy' in the British state.
Journalists who worked with him at News UK said he was a 'tough operator'. But Giles Kenningham, founder of PR firm Trafalgar Strategy and a former Conservative communications chief, said Dinsmore was 'straightforward, charming and likeable' with a difficult job ahead of him to take more ownership of the government's own media channels and 'turn around the supertanker of the machine without letting the bureaucracy take over'.
Those with knowledge of the decision said he had been picked to drive through change because of unhappiness within No 10 at the unwieldiness of government communications, a desire to modernise its operation and frustration.
The government communications service has thousands of staff but some in Downing Street have been frustrated by the difficulty of getting it to convey core messages, with particular annoyance at 'pointless' communications that cost at lot without reaching enough people.
Despite coming from a traditional print background, starting as a reporter for the Sun in 1990 as rising to editor from 2013 to 2015, Dinsmore oversaw big digital changes at News UK from the launch of Times Radio and Talk TV to more video output at the Sun, including its own TV programme, Never Mind the Ballots.
Government sources said Dinsmore had impressed Starmer and No 10 with his ideas on new media and reaching audiences more directly. As well as directing overarching communications, he will oversee the 'new media unit' driven by Cabinet Office official Ed Bearryman, who has previously worked with Dinsmore as a senior marketing chief at News UK.
One senior source said Downing Street want government communications to be 'more directional and reactive' and the news executive was 'politically savvy' and 'long in the tooth enough' to provide the authority they needed.
Sign up to Headlines UK
Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning
after newsletter promotion
However, they suggested there could be the potential for tensions with political communications directors James Lyons and Steph Driver, as well as other senior Labour operators, unless Dinsmore's role is clearly defined as focused on how the civil service operates.
Another former Downing Street adviser said they viewed the appointment as a 'stop Farage play' and in the tradition of many former prime ministers who have appointed red-top spinners to senior communications jobs in an effort to tap into more populist media.
With the threat of Reform continuing to grow, and Nigel Farage broadcasting his own clips and talkshows across multiple social media platforms, the government has been considering the idea of needing to communicate more directly with voters.
On Thursday, it is due to host dozens of social media influencers at a Downing Street reception. Covering areas like personal finance, health and food, all the influencers have worked with Labour either in opposition or in government, with the aim of reaching people who consume most of their news via social media.
'This isn't instead of our normal communications, it's an expansion,' one official said. 'We're alive to the way people often consume media on their own terms according to their particular interests.'
While up to 90 people are expected at the Thursday afternoon event, just four names were released in advance; personal finance influencers Abigail Foster and Gabriel Nussbaum, the latter of whom posts under the moniker of That Money Guy; Georgia Harrison, who has campaigned about online imagery and so-called revenge porn; and Chetna Makan, a chef and writer who appeared on The Great British Bake Off.
In his statement about his appointment, Dinsmore said it was an 'honour to be asked to lead this important mission at such a pivotal moment'.
'Clear and engaging communications are central to public trust, policy delivery, and national resilience,' he said. 'The media landscape is evolving at a rapid pace, supercharged by AI, and I look forward to helping the government leverage the exciting opportunities in front of us.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
12 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Rachel Reeves should exempt defence pledge from budget rules, says Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown has said Chancellor Rachel Reeves should exempt the Government's defence spending pledge from her borrowing rules to help free up economic headroom. The former prime minister said the commitment to spend 5% of GDP on national security by 2035 should be dealt with jointly as a 'Nato initiative', with costs shared across Europe. Leading economists have warned the Chancellor will likely have to raise taxes in the autumn budget to plug a £51 billion black hole in the public finances. Ms Reeves is currently on track to miss one of her borrowing rules by £41.2 billion and needs to rebuild a fiscal buffer of nearly £10 billion that has been wiped out, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr). Mr Brown, who served as chancellor for a decade in Sir Tony Blair's Labour administration, said on Thursday that the rise in defence spending should be treated as 'exceptional', as it has been in Germany. 'When you come to the fiscal position, look, there's one thing that's happened over the last few months that has been quite unprecedented – to spend 5% on defence expenditure as we want to spend by the 2030s,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'But this is a Nato initiative, this is a European initiative. We should be doing this jointly. 'We should have either jointly issued bonds or a Nato defence fund, and we should be sharing the cost across the continent, and that should be regarded as something extraordinary and exceptional, outside the fiscal rules. 'That would create the kind of headroom that Rachel Reeves needs.' Germany has voted to exempt some defence spending from its self-imposed borrowing constraints as Nato allies seek to boost funding following pressure from US President Donald Trump for them to shoulder more of the burden of European defence. Mr Brown said: 'If you look around Europe at the moment, you see that the Germans are looking at what they can do outside the fiscal rules… the French are looking at ways of doing it, the Polish have already done that. 'What I'm actually asking for is a European-wide initiative. 'Let's do it jointly, either jointly issued bonds or individually issued bonds that are simultaneous and therefore seen by the markets as an extraordinary issue.' When she entered the Treasury, Ms Reeves set out two key fiscal rules: the first to ensure that day-to-day spending is matched by tax revenues, and the second to reduce net financial debt as a share of the economy. Ministers have already announced a cut to overseas aid to fund a boost in defence spending but economists have said the new Nato target of 5% by 2035 could increase expenditure by a further £38.6 billion.
South Wales Guardian
12 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
First migrants detained under ‘one in, one out' deal as PM vows to secure border
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government was prepared to defend itself against legal challenges if migrants seek to avoid being sent back across the English Channel. The migrants detained were among those who risked the Channel crossing on Wednesday, the day the pilot scheme began operating. The first small boat migrants have been detained under our landmark UK-France returns deal. This is what happens next 👇 — Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) August 7, 2025 Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: 'We have detained the first illegal migrants under our new deal before returning them to France. No gimmicks, just results. 'If you break the law to enter this country, you will face being sent back. When I say I will stop at nothing to secure our borders, I mean it.' The pilot scheme was set up as part of a deal announced by the Prime Minister and French president Mr Macron during his state visit to the UK in July. UK officials aim to make referrals for returns to France within three days of a migrant's arrival by small boat while French authorities will respond within 14 days. This is in exchange for an approved asylum seeker in France to be brought to the UK under a safe route. No figures have been confirmed for how many migrants will be sent back, although reports from France have suggested it could be around 50 a week, a small fraction of the numbers making the crossing in small boats. The Home Secretary said: 'The pilot has now begun, so the first migrants who have arrived on the small boats are now in detention. We will then swiftly make the referrals to France and that process will now start to be able to return people to France. 'It's the beginning of the pilot and it will build as well over time, but we're also clear that France is a safe country, so we will robustly defend against any legal challenge that people try. 'We do expect for people to start being returned in a matter of weeks.' The Home Office is expected to launch a campaign in the coming days to make migrants in northern France and elsewhere aware of the new treaty. Ms Cooper added: 'Criminal gangs have spent seven years embedding themselves along our border and it will take time to unravel them, but these detentions are an important step towards undermining their business model and unravelling the false promises they make.' The Home Secretary has acknowledged the accord is not a 'silver bullet' to stop small boat crossings, which are running at record levels so far in 2025. But the Government hopes it will be a turning point as migrants will be sent back across the Channel for the first time. The process for asylum seekers to come to the UK under the 'one in, one out' pilot scheme has also been launched, with adults and families in France able to express an interest in coming to the UK through an online platform set up by the Home Office. They will have to meet suitability criteria, a standard visa application process and security checks. If accepted, they would be given three months in the UK to claim asylum or apply for a visa, and would be subject to the same rules for all asylum seekers not allowed to work, study or have access to benefits. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said just a 'token handful' of migrants had been detained and suggested the pilot scheme would fail. He said: 'Keir Starmer's promise last year to 'smash the gangs' has turned out to be nothing more than a gimmick that didn't work, and this is just the same. 'They are detaining a token handful of arrivals and in return we accept unvetted migrants from France. The whole thing is riddled with loopholes, opt-outs and legal escape routes that will make removals near-impossible.'
South Wales Guardian
12 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Homelessness minister faces criticism over hiking rent after removing tenants
Four tenants who rented a house in east London from Rushanara Ali were sent an email last November saying their lease would not be renewed, which also gave them four months' notice to leave, the i newspaper reported. Ms Ali's property was then re-listed with a £700 rent increase within weeks, the newspaper said. A spokesperson for the minister said: 'Rushanara takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements.' The house, rented on a fixed-term contract, was put up for sale while the tenants were living there, and it was only re-listed as a rental because it had not sold, according to the i. But the minister's actions are now facing scrutiny from rental rights campaigners, as the Government seeks to clamp down on what it sees as unfair rental practices. The Renters' Rights Bill includes measures to ban landlords who end a tenancy to sell a property from re-listing it for six months. The Bill, which is nearing its end stages of scrutiny in Parliament, will also abolish fixed-term tenancies and ensure landlords give four months' notice if they want to sell their property. Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, described the allegations as 'shocking and a wake-up call to Government on the need to push ahead as quickly as possible to improve protections for renters'. He added: 'It is bad enough when any landlord turfs out their tenant to hike up the rent, or tries their luck with unfair claims on the deposit, but the minister responsible for homelessness knows only too well about the harm caused by this behaviour. 'These allegations highlight common practices that the Government can eradicate. 'The Renters' Rights Bill would ban landlords who evict tenants to sell the property from re-letting it within 12 months, to deter this kind of abuse – but unfortunately members of the House of Lords have voted to reduce this to six months. 'The Government can also use its review of the deposit protection system to penalise landlords who make exaggerated claims at the end of the tenancy.' Tom Darling, director at the Renters' Reform Coalition, said: 'It's mind-boggling that we have a homelessness minister who has just evicted four people in order to rake in more rent – something that will soon be illegal under the Renters' Rights Bill her own department is bringing through Parliament. 'The Government are currently considering an amendment to the legislation from the House of Lords which reduces the ban on re-letting after eviction from 12 months to six months. 'The Government must remove this amendment, and at the very least minister Ali must recuse herself from any discussions on this within Government.' Speaking to broadcasters, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper insisted Ms Ali had not breached any rules. 'I don't know any of the details of this, but I understand that she has followed all of the rules in this case,' Ms Cooper said. Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly told the i that Ms Ali should consider her position as a minister, as the allegations 'would be an example of the most extreme hypocrisy'.
